Beware of scammers trying to get your info under guise of switching to 5G

As India gears up to become 5G ready, with many Indian cities already identified for the first phase of the launch, the number of scammers pretending to be customer care representatives from telecom providers also increases. Under the pretense of helping you upgrade your 4G sim to 5G, they scam their way to gain access to your data.

Scammers make use of these phishing methods to get your personal details, like bank passwords, OTPs, etc. The Mumbai Police also issued a tweet a few days back, alerting people to recognise these scam calls and not fall prey to them.

"Risk Alert! Upgradation in tech brings about a new wave of scammers waiting to pounce. The most recent one is fraudsters offering to guide you to convert to 5G. Do not share your personal/banking information or click on any unknown links," said the Mumbai police tweet.



According to a news report, which quoted the online community platform LocalCircles, stated that recently only 5% of mobile subscribers who were surveyed are ready to move to 5G in 2022.

The report also added that while many smartphone users are likely to make the switch to a 5G network if it addresses the issues of call drop/connectivity, network availability and low speed. Another 43% stated that they are willing to pay up to 10% extra tariff for the 5G network.

While 20% of those surveyed said they already have a 5G device, another 4% are likely to get one this year. Another 20 per cent said they are likely to purchase a 5G device in 2023.

Out of more than 500 million smartphone users in India, about 100 million are expected to have a 5G-ready device by the end of this year.